Heat-treating apparatus for canned-goods-coupling means



Aug. 20, 1929. A. R. THOMPSON HEAT TREATING APPARATUS FOR CANNED GOODS COUPLING MEANS Filed April 18. 1928 amnion QM R. Jfwmfywu Patented Aug. 20, 1929.

UNITED STATES 1,725,319 PATENT OFFICE.

ALBERT R. THOMPSON, OF SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR TO ANDERSON-BARN- GROVER MFG. CO., OF SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, A CORPORATION OF CALIFORNIA.

HEAT-TREATING APPARATUS FOR CANNED-GOODS-COUPLING MEANS.

Application filed April 18, 1928.

, for the cooking, or processing under heat, of food articles or the like in hermetically sealed containers.

In the canning art as at present practiced, there is used what is known as a. cooker having a can path through which a procession of cans is continuously passed at a uniform rate of speed, said can path comprising a rotatable annular series, or reel, of can supporting rails and a circumscribing fixed helical directing spiral for advancing the cans in the supporting rails. *Combined with this cooker or combination of cooker chambers is used what is known as a cooler into which the cans, after having passed through the cooker, are delivered to cool the cans.

The combined cookers and coolers as used may be of any desired or suitable length and a plurality of cooker chambers are frequently used when handling products requiring prolonged treatment. The outer shells, or walls, of these combined cooker chambers and cooler chambers are rigidly afiixed and secured to each other to seal the same and it is necessary to couple the shaft of the cooker with the shaft of the cooler in order to obtain a uniform'drive of the transfer reels, or supporting rails, carried by said shafts.

The present invention is particularly addressed to an improved form of chamber construction having dished heads for housing bearing means for the adjacent ends of the shafts of the chambers and an improved form of means for coupling the said shafts together.

It is an object of this invention to provide an easily attachable and detachable shaft coupling for coupling togetherthe shafts of a cooker and a cooler, or the shafts of two like chambers (cookers or coolers), which coupling means permits the shells, or outer walls, of the cooker and cooler to be secured together in fluid tight connection, and which coupling means is interposed between concave or dished end of walls of the chambers between the bearings supported by said concave or dished ends.

Other objects and advantages of this invention it is believed to be apparent from the following detailed description of a pre- Serial No. 271,067.

ferred embodiment thereof as illustrated in the accompanying drawings:

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic elevation of a combined cooker and cooler as embodied in this invention illustrating the outer shells of the cooker and cooler as broken away.

F igure 2 is an enlarged fragmental sectional elevation of a combined cooker and cooler embodying this invention.

In the preferred embodiment of this i11- vention illustrated in the accompanying drawings, 1 indicates a treating chamber, or cooker, which may be of any suitable or desirable construction as is well understood in the art, and 2 indicates a second treating chamber, or cooler, which likewise may be of any suitable or desirable construction. The cooker 1 includes a shell 3 which is held stationary by any suitable or desirable means and within the inner periphery of the shell 3 is mounted a helical track 4 by means of which the cans are advanced longitudinally through the shell as they are caused to travel between the adjacent tracks 4. by the carrier 5. The carrier 5 is secured to and driven by a shaft 6. The cooler 2 includes a shell 7 within which a similar helical track- 8 is mounted. A carrier 9 for advancing the cans along the adjacent tracks 8 of the cooler 2 is secured to and driven by the cooler shaft 10.

Secured to the end of the shell 3 of the cooker 1 is a concave head 11. The concave head 11 is provided with a plane annular flange 12 at its outer end which extends at right angles to the shell 3. At the inner portion the head 11 is provided with a section 13 which provides a hub for the shell 3 and this hub also extends at right angles to the shell 3. Supported within the hub 13 is a bearing 14, and secured to the hub 13 is a stuffing box indicated at 15 which surrounds the shaft 6 preventing steam as admitted to the cooker 1 from passing outwardly therefrom through the head 11. The cooler 2 is provided with a head 16 which is of the same form and construction as head 11 and includes an annular flange 17 similar to the annular flange 12 and a hub 18 similar to the hub 13. The hub 18 supports a bearing 19 for the cooler shaft 10 and a stuffing box 20 similar to the stufling box 15.

The shafts 6 and 10 extend through the concave heads 11 and 16 and through the stufiing boxes and E and coupling means are provided for coupling the shafts 6 and 10 together. The coupling means provided are of a loose form permitting the shafts 6 and 10 to be coupled together by merely engaging the portions of the coupling means which are secured to the respective ends of the shafts 6 and 10. The coupling means are preferably of the following construction:

Secured to the end of the shaft 6 is a disc 21 which carries driving pins 22. Secured to the adjacent end of the shaft 10 is a disc 23 which is provided with holes spaced around its periphery distances correspond ing to the spacings of the driving pins 22. Coupling the shafts 6 and 10 together the disc 21 is advanced toward the disc 23 until the driving pins 22 pass into the spaced holes formed in the driving disc 23. 1n order to maintain the coupling above described the shells 3 and 7 of the cooker 1 and cooler 2 are rigidly secured together preferably in the following manner:

Complementary flanged irons 9A: and 25 are secured to the adjacent ends of the shells 3 and 7 and bolts 26 are passed through the vertically extending webs of the flanged. irons 24k and 25. The bolts 26 are spaced around these shells 3 and 7 at suitable in tervals. Interposed between the sections 12 and 17, and preferably between the flanged irons 24 and 25, is an asbestos ring 27 which insulates the head 11 fromthe head 16 preventing heat from flowing from the cooker 1 to the cooler 2. Between the concave heads 11 and 16 is provided a dead air chamber 28 which effectively insulates the head 11 from the head 16 and the concaving of the heads 11 and 16 also permits the stuffing boxes 15 and 20 being interposed between the shells 3 and 7 and permits the coupling, composed of the discs 21 and 23 to be mounted between the shells 3 and 7 while also permitting the shells 3 and 7 to be rigidly secured together. 7

As is commonly provided in such cooker and cooler combinations, an accelerating lead as formed by the tracks 29 and 30 is provided for passing the cans from the cooker to the cooler through a hole 31 formed through the flanges 12 and 17 of the shells 11 and 16 respectively.

Having fully described my invention, it is to be understood that I do not wish to be limited to the details herein set forth but my invention is of the full scope of the appending claims.

I claim:

1. In a combined cooker and cooler, including a cooker shell, a drive shaft extended longitudinally of said shell, carrier means on said shaft within said shell to transfer cans longitudinally therethrough, a head for said shell, a cooler shell, a drive shaft for said cooler shell, means mounted on said shaft for transferring cans longitudinally of said cooler shell, and means for transferring the cans from said cooker to said cooler, of means for coupling the cooker shaft with the cooler shaft, including means secured to the end of one of said shafts, drive pins carriedby said latter means, and means carried by the other of said shafts for engaging said drive pins.

2. A heat treating apparatus comprising a plurality of chambers, -a shaft, a reel mounted on the shaft, and a spiral conveyor within each chamber operative to advance cans through said chambers, the adjacent heads of said chambers being dished to permit bearings and a coupling for said shafts being housed within the recesses formed by said dished heads and means for shifting the cans from the conveyor of one chamber to the conveyor of the adjacent chamber through an opening in said heads.

3. A heat treating apparatus comprising a plurality of chambers, each including a shaft, a reel mounted on the shaft, and a spiral conveyor, of dished heads for said chambers at the adjacent ends of said chambers, the dished heads providing a housing for a detachable coupling means for the shafts of each of said chambers and means for shifting cans from the conveyor of one chamber to the conveyor of the adjacent chamber through an opening in said heads.

1. A heat treating apparatus comprising a plurality of chambers, each chamber including a shaft, a reel mounted on the shaft and a spiral conveyor operative to advance cans through the chamber, the adjacent heads of said chambers being dished to provide a housing for bearings and a coupling for said shafts, means for connecting said dished heads together in fluid tight relation and means for shifting cans from the conveyor of one chamber to the conveyor of the adjacent chamber through an opening in said heads.

5. A heat treating apparatus comprising a plurality of chambers, each chamber including a shaft extending longitudinally of the chamber, a reel mounted on the shaft and a spiral conveyor operative to advance cans through the chamber of heads for said chambers, the adjacent. heads of said chambers being dished to provide a housing for bearings for the said shafts and a detachable coupling for said shafts and means for shifting cans from the conveyor of one chamber to the conveyor of the adjacent chamber through an opening in said heads. 7 6. A heat treating apparatus comprising a plurality of chambers, each chamber including a shaft extending longitudinally through one end of the chamber, a reel mounted on theshaft, and a spiral conveyor operative to advance cans through the chamber, the adjacent heads of said chambers being dished to provide a housing, means for connecting the heads of said chambers together and a coupling means for coupling the shafts of the adjacent chambers together in driven and driving relation, the said coupling means including drive pins operatively connected to one of said shafts, and means carried by the other of said shafts for loosely engaging said drive pins.

In a heat treating apparatus comprising a plurality of removably connected chambers, having adjacent dished heads forming a housing between the chambers, a reel and spiral canway in each chamber, and

means for passing cans from one canway to another through an opening in the chamber heads.

8. In a heat treating apparatus comprising a pluralit of chambers, a spiral canway in each chamber, each chamber having centrally dished heads to provide a coupling housing between the chambers, the outer periphery of said heads being non-dished to permit the adjacency of the canway in the ad'oining chambers.

igned at San Jose, Calif., this 23d day of March, 1928.

ALBERT R. THOMPSON. 

